Tubular latch



E. F. SUTPHIN TUBULAR LATCH Feb. 4, 1947.

Filed 001;. 21, 1944 Patented Feb. 4, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TUBULAR LATCH Edward F. Sutphin, Yardley, Pa.

Application October 21, 1944, Serial N0. 559,704

My invention relates to what are called tubulailatches, which are used to permit latching from the inside of a door which has been closed, and to maintain the latch against opening by the outside knob until the knob on the inside of the door is turned, at which time the latch is released and remains subject to operation by either knob.

The invention is intended for use with a split spindle latch which in itself is very old.

It is very common, for example, to use outer and inner knobs connected to outer and inner spindle sections of which the outer section can be held by a dead latch, released by a key. The spindle sections are capable of independent operation and the latch or bolt, except for the dead latch, can be operated by either spindle section- This separation of the spindle parts and separate control of the handle sections is subject to different control under my invention than that ordinarily in use.

The main purpose of my invention is to lock the outer spindle section by a button accessible on the inside by swinging a locking stop, holding the stop in position by friction, and to releasing `the stop by cam means movable with the latch.

A further purpose is to operate cams upon a yoke by the inner knob, and by the cams, to swing a stop angularly into locking engagement with one of the spindles. The stop is released when the inner knob is turned upon the latch.

A further purpose is to operate a latch by a yoke having longitudinal cams on the legs of the yoke and tp use one or both of these cams to release a roll-back stop, swinging it up from the roll-back notch.

A further purpose is to hold a swinging stop for a roll-back by a spring check which prevents accidental release of the stop.

A further purpose is resiliently to hold a swinging stop for a roll-back against release movement.

A further purpose is to use a swinging cross- `shaped stop for a roll-back, swinging the end of involved.

Claims. (Cl. 292-169) Figure 1 is a fragmentary View of a door and a knob.

Figure 2 is a front View of Figure 1, looking in the direction of the length of the latch.

Figure 3 is a fragmentary, longitudinal section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2, across one of the spindle sections, showing the latch largely in side elevation, with one of the casing parts removed and showing adjacent wood of the door.

Figure 4 is an edge elevation of the latch and the mechanism seen in Figure 3.

Figure 5 is a section upon line 5-5 of Figure 3 omitting the adjacent parts of the Wooden door.

Figure 6 is a section taken upon lines 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a fragmentary View of part of Figure 3 omitting the hubs, roll backs, spindle and spring,

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the yoke, cams and projections of Figure.

Figure 9 is a perspective view of the pivoted stop.

Figure 3a is a fragmentary perspective, similar to Figure 9 but showing another form.

Figure 10 is a fragmentary perspective showing the upper part of a supporting post for the pivoted stop.

Figure 1l is a side elevation of a stop-setting mechanism seen in Figure 4.

Figure 12 is a perspective view of separated hub and roll-back parts.

In the drawing similar numerals indicate like parts.

The outer part of my latch includes a face plate or latch plate IE and casing i5 attached to it, and a rear plate il. The face plate is attached to the edge face oi door i8 about the tubular opening i9 within which the outer case i6 is ntted. Because, conveniently, the opening can be out by an auger, the opening i9 is commonly cylindrical in latches of this character and the outer casing may be of circular o-r of non-circular shape. Where it is non-circular, the latch. is kept in position 'by the latch plate at the front and by the rear plate i7. In the present instance, for convenience, the cross-section of the outer casing is square.

Within the outer casing are carried a latch or bolt Zil, of rectangular cross-section, tting within an opening 2i of corresponding shape in the latch plate, by which plate the latch is guided and is supported against transverse forces. Within the casing a spring 22 resiliently forces the latch or bolt forward.

The spring at its front end engages and travels 3 with the latch and at the rear end anchors against posts 23, 24 which in the present instance perform supporting functions hereafter described.

Within the outer casing or shell I the latch or bolt is guided by yoke 25. At an intermediate point in the yoke length cams 26 aand 27 are located on opposite sides for latch release as later explained. Atthe ends of thel yoke are located lugs 2S, 2li which are engaged by roll-backshereinafter described. The lugs 23 and 2Q are convene iently guided against side movement by wings 3u and 3l on opposite sides of the yoke, engaging walls 32 and 33 ci' the casing.

F-or convenience the casing is made in what, because of their positions in Figure 6, will be called upper and lower shell sections Sli and 35.

Transversely of the casing, near the rear end thereof, extend the normal split spindle inner and outer spindle sections t, 'l connected at their outer ends with inner and outer knobs 38, Ss and at their adjacent ends with hubs ill, lli. Each of the hubs carries a roll-back 42, 53, shown in Figures 3, 4 ando', the roll-back connected with the outside handle being notched at @il in order to permit it to be stopped or blocked or held se lectively against turning, the intention being to release this `blocking or stopping or holding by normal turning of the inner handle.

Each of the roll-backs has rocker arms 45, de, d5', de which engage with the adjacent lugs s-o that with either direction of roll-back turning one or other of the rocker arms will engage with one or other of the lugs to open the latch.

Upon or Iwithin bearings in posts 23, 2li, a locking lever llis pivoted'at one end at 58. The locking lever carries a terminal tongue $9 which in one position of the lever nts within the notch it andv holds against rotation the roll-back which is connected with the outer knob.

The locking lever 4l is pushed down into the notch by a control button 5@ located closely adjacent the inner knob and accessible from the inside of the door. This control button is preferably not connected rigidly to the locking lever because it would then move o-ver an unduly large arc. Instead the button is pivoted toa bracket 5l' threaded into the lever at 52. The bracket or button or both pass through an opening 53 in the casing and through a corresponding opening 5A in the adjacent knob socket 55.

AtV a point intermediate the length of the locking lever, lateral extensions, arms 55 and 5l are provided which give the lever in its entirety a crosslike form in elevation, one end of the cross affording the pivotal mount, the other end acting as the locking tongue and the lateral arms performing two functions, one or both being engaged by oneV or both of the yoke cams and one of the arms engaging a spring curb, drag-or brake which holds the locking lever in its locking positionras set by the button.

I recognize that either of the cams can be made effective without the necessity for using the other, and that one drag or brake only is needed to hold the locking lever as set.

In Figure 9 the arms 56 and El extend laterally from the locking leverA l. The lower edge of one only of these arms may be engaged by one cam El, as in Figure to lift the locking lever about its pivot pin. The lower side of arm 57 cornes tol an edge at 58A in Figures 9 and 9a, so that this edge rides upon the cam surface 21, as the cam is shifted with movement of the latch, lifting the locking lever in each of these forms for bearings as the cam slides beneath an arm. In Figure 9, the lower edge of arm E5 is not engaged by the cam 26, the entire releasing action, to lift the locking lever, being effected by the cam 21 engaging the edge 58. However, in Figure 9a the lower edge 58' of the arm E is not engaged by cam 25.

In Figure 9 the arm et is made narrower lengthwise of the locking lever than is arm 5l to giveroom for a spring 5B attached to post 24, so that the spring may be engaged by the arm 5S, and the spring acts as a brake against withdrawal of the locking lever M from engagement.

It will be evident that in Figure 9a the lower edges 58 and 5t of the arms 55 and 5l are both used for the release o-f the latch, both being er1- gaged by the cams, whereas only one is used in Figure 9; and less room is provided for the location of the brake spring in Figure 9a than in Figure 9.

In Figure 10 the retarding spring @il is fastened to the top'of one of the posts, asr 24, in order to holdv the locking lever in position when set.

The upper and lower shell sections are Iseparate during manufacture but, in order to avoid accidental displacement or loss of parts, the final step in manufacture is to weld the two sections of the casing together along some such line as Bl.

In operation the door is closed to the right in Figure 2, both knobs being free to turn because as yet` the button d@ has not been pressed to set the tongue of the locking lever within the notch of the roll-back controlling the outer knob, Until this button is pressed the door can be opened freely by either knob.

When the button 5d is pushed downwardly in Figure 2 the locking lever is swung about its pivot until the tongue (terminal) of the locking lever enters the slot all of the roll-back 43 stopping rotation of the outer knob though the inner knob is still free to turn because there is no lock for roll-back 32. The inner knob at all times is free to turn.

This setting assures privacy for the room controlled by the door in question, and this privacy continues until the occupant ofn this room turns the inner knob, turning the roll-back 42 which engages one or the other of the lugs 28, 29 (Figure 8) according to the direction in which the knob is turned and withdraws the latch 2l). At the same time, through cams 25, 2l, or the two cams coincidently, one or both of the arms 51S and 51 is or are lifted, raising the tongue 4e=and freeing it from its set position within notch 44 of rollback d3. This lifting action, by which the tongue is withdrawn from the notch, is against the friction of the retarding or braking means, such as is seen in Figurev l0. Until the latch is re-set by pressing the button 53, the door can again be opened freely by turning the outer door lock.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. In a tubular lock, a longitudinally divided casing, an apertured latch plate at the front of the casing, a, bolt passing through the latch plate, a Hspring pressing the bolt forwardly, an anchorage against which the springabuts, a yoke having side strips connected with the bolt and lugsV at the edges of the strips, cams upon the side strips, a pair of hubs transverse to the casing, roll-backs upon the hubs, one of which is forwardly notched, divided spindle sections. adapted to operate the roll-backs, a swinging lever adapted to engage the notch in the roll-back, a pivotal mount for the lever and lateral arms from the swinging lever, one oi" which is engaged by a yoke cam to release the roll-back.

2. In a tubular lock, a latch casing having an apertured front latch plate and a rear plate, a bolt movable in the front latch plate, side rearwardly extending cam yoke members movable with the bolt, an abutment, a spring engaging the bolt and the abutment to project the bolt, hubs extending transversely with respect to the casing, roll-backs carried by the hubs, one of the roll-backs being notched, lugs upon the yoke sides adapted to be engaged by both roll-backs, divided spindle sections adapted to operate the respective hubs, a swinging stop released by one oi the cams, adapted to enter the notch in the roll-back, a post carried by the swinging stop and a button pivotally connected with the post and by which the swinging stop is set in operative position.

3. In a tubular latch, a casing, a latch movable lengthwise of the casing, inner and outer spindle sections transverse to the latch, roll-backs carried by the spindle sections, the roll-back for the outer section having a notch in its face, a transverse support generally parallel to the spindles, a pivoted stop carried by the support, adapted to nt into the notch, means for setting the stop, and cam means carried by the latch, whereby with movement of the latch the cam means and the stop react to throw the stop out of the notch.

4. In a tubular latch, a casing, inner and Outer spindle sections, inner and outer handles upon exposed ends of said sections, roll-backs carried by the inner ends of the two sections, a bolt, a yoke connected with the bob, cams on the yoke, lugs on the yoke and engaged by both roll-backs, supports within the casing forming an abutment for the rear of a spring, a first spring urging the bolt away from the abutment, a pin held by the supports, a lever pivoted upon the pin, rear,- wardly directed and having a stop to engagewith a notch in the roll-back for the outside handle, arms upon the sides of the pivoted lever, one of which arms is adapted to be engaged by a yoke cam and a second spring carried by the supports engaging the other of said arms to retard releasing movement of the pivoted lever.

5. In a tubular lock, a casing, a bolt guided within the casing, a spring pressing the bolt forwardly, an anchorage against which the spring abuts, a yoke having side strips connected with the bolt and having lugs at the rear ends of the strips, cams upon the side strips, a pair of hubs transverse to the casing, rollbacks upon the hubs, one of which roll-backs is forwardly notched, divided spindle sections adapted to operate the roll-backs, a swinging lever adapted to engage the notch in the roll-back, a pivotal mount for the lever, lateral arms from the swinging lever, one of which arms is engaged by a yoke cam to release the roll-back and spring means engaged by the other of said arms and adapted to hold the swinging lever in its operative position.

6. In a tubular latch, a, casing, inner and outer Vspindle sections, inner and outer handles upon otherwise exposed ends of said sections, rollbacks carried by the inner ends of the two sections, a bolt, a yoke connected with the bolt and having lugs engaged by both roll-backs, bearings extending transversely of the casing, a pivoted stop mounted in the bearings, a spring car'- ried by the bearings and operative to hold the pivoted stop in its operative position, means, ac cessible from the exterior of the casing, for setting the stop, and means upon the yoke ior engaging the stop at an intermediate point and releasing the stop.

7. In a tubular latch, a casing, inner and outer spindle sections, inner and outer handles upon otherwise exposed ends of said sections, rollbacks carried by the inner ends of the two sections, a bolt, a yoke connected with the boit, lugs on the bolt, engaged by both roll-backs, a pivoted stop adapted to hold the roll-back connected with the outer knob, a cam carried by the yoke, an arm upon the stop engaged by the cam to swing the stop to release position, and fixed spring means for holding the stop in operative position,

8. In a tubular latch, a casing, a latch movable lengthwise of the casing, inner and outer spindle sections transverse to the latch, roll-backs carried by the spindle sections, the roll-back for the outer section having a notch in its face, a pivoted stop adapted to t into the notch, a support for the stop guiding the stop to swing in planes lengthwise of the path or latch movement, means accessible outside oi the latch for setting the stop, and positive cam means carried by the latch whereby with movement of the latch the cam means and stop react to throwthe stop out of` Vthe notch.

9. In a tubular latch, a casing, a latch movable lengthwise of the casing, inner and outer spindle sections transverse to the latch, roll-backs carried by the spindle sections, the roll-back for the outer section having a notch in its face, a pivoted stop fadapted to t into the notch, a support for the stop, guiding the stop to swing in planes lengthwise of the path of latch movement, means accessible outside `or" the latch for setting the stop, a yoke carried by the latch, and cams upon the sides of the yoke engaging the stop in its set position and moving it to a released position.

10. In a tubular latch, a springpressed latch, a pair of knobs, swivelled 'spindles connected to the knobs, a pair of-roll-backs connected, one with each spindle, the one connected with the outside knob having a notch in its roll-back surn face, operating connections between the roll backs and the latch, a pivoted stop engaging in the notch and setting means for the stop including a pivotal, jointed push button rod adapted to swivel at the joint with swinging movement of the stop so as to maintain an end of the push button rod accessible for stop setting movement.

EDWARD F. SUTPI-IIN.

REFERENCES CITE!) The following references are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,263,477 Voight Nov. 18, 1941 2,351,077 Segal June 13, 1944 1,331,166 Ochsner Feb. 17, 1920 2,086,982 McCarter July 13, 1937 626,339 Phelps June 6, 1899 1,593,667 Murmann July 27, 1926 1,489,675 Schlage Apr, 8, 1924 

